Gardening, Life And Everything Inbetween

Vacation’s End

So here we are at the end of our vacation in Florida. I can’t believe that it’s already been 10 days – where does the time go and why does it seem to fly by? I am trying desperately hard to hold on to every minute but it keeps flowing through my hands like sand through my fingers. We have been coming to visit Steve’s parents for 15 years now, ever since they took early retirement and moved to Florida. And I have so much appreciation for this experience. The location is stunning – 20 feet from the sea wall on the intra-costal. In fact as I am sitting here, I have the sliding door open, looking at the lights in the night sky and listening to the waves against the sea wall.

So how has this fast moving time been spent? In pretty much the same way it is spent each year. Mark Twain described golf as ‘ a good walk ruined’ so I doubled the ruin by playing twice, lost to Steve at tennis again even tho’ I pay for lessons every week and he does hardly any exercise at all, had a blueberry blitz facial and a hot shell message and visited the Pelican sanctuary. We trailed around Downtown Disney, I watched the final two episodes of Downton Abbey whilst the rain came down (they finally got it together – took them long enough) and sent way too many balls down the gutters at the bowling alley (I hate bowling, I am awful every time and as for those shoes….). And last but not least, played 54 rounds of Uno and that is not a typo. Each night we play 6 hands – each person gets to deal once – and then we count up the total scores to declare the big winner and bragging rights for the next 12 months.

Some of you reading this may already be supressing a yawn and wondering why we’d repeat the same experience year after year. After all, there is a big old world out there with many different places to visit and adventures to be had. But I love the memories that these experiences create and I love watching the connection between the girls and Grandma and Grandpa – it warms the cockles of my English heart. I can’t say that I can articulate what these relationships bring specifically beyond way too much candy and TV for the girls as GM&GP spoil them but it seems that something special is happening down here and I am just very happy to be a witness to it. Now, back to my packing.

Humorous moment today: Sarah (11) asking Steve if he was suffering from grout on his big toe!!